Plug-And-Play Cochlear Electrode Array - Diversity Supplement.

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Project Summary/Abstract Worldwide, approximately 466 million people suffer from disabling hearing loss. When conventional hearing aids provide no appreciable benefit, cochlear implants are a solution. Current cochlear implants, while beneficial in their use, are limited in their capabilities by hand-assembly of wire-bundled electrode arrays. Hand assembly is very costly, extremely labor-intensive, and inadequate in implementing new strategies in Otolaryngology for improving speech recognition and music appreciation. MEMStim LLC proposes a plug-and-play advanced-manufacturing solution that relies heavily on 3D printing. By printing conductive and nonconductive silicones, biocompatible pluggable arrays can be printed to any size, length, shape or thickness, from several microns to tens of millimeters. Most importantly, the integrated connectors plug readily onto stimulators by way of a novel micro-socket technology. The micro-sockets are compatible and slide right onto the feedthrough pins. The printer resolution can output pluggable connectors that are compatible with pin-to-pin pitches smaller than 100 μm (edge-to-edge), allowing for enhanced miniaturization. The 3D printed soft elastomeric arrays differ from wire-bundle cochlear implants in that they are less stiff and more susceptible to small changes in strain [add reference?]. They fall within a category of devices called “bioelectronics”, which have a Young’s Modulus (100 Pa-10MPa) in the range of most biological matter such as nerve tissue. Due to this difference, the candidate will strengthen our case to the FDA and cochlear manufacture’s themselves by conducting further electrical and mechanical tests to prove the functionality and durability under strain. The tests will also help us better understand the durability and reliability limits of our plug-and-play arrays for other neurostimulator application areas, such as spinal cord stimulators and deep brain stimulators.